So far...as I watch the Masters of Horror episodes in no particular order or without regard to Season One or the second season, this episode "We All Scream for Ice Cream" is easily one of the weakest(only slightly better than "The V- Word." What did I like: the opening about a creepy ice cream truck, the scary clown(played wonderfully and almost anonymously by William Forsythe), and the story about a gang of not-so-tough-looking youths and a stuttering clown who sold ice cream. The first half of the episode is gripping enough and has plenty of atmosphere but as the tale unfolds one sees how barren the script is with logic until the very illogical, unsuspenseful, lame ending. The way people are killed, how Buster came back, and that ludicrous thing at the end with the strawberry ice cream made me laugh in a "wow! this is pretty bad!" way. Look, the acting is engaging. Colin Cunningham plays a crazy guy well, and I must confess the bathtub scene is disturbing and way over-the-top. Lee Tergesen(of Werd Science fame) plays the lead well-enough. His wife is attractive and decent, and the kids are all acceptable except in the flashback where we just get some ludicrous story from the past. The line, "It will be bitchin" had me rolling as it came from the lips of a kid who looked softer than the the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Buster the Clown is worth seeing the episode. Forsythe is so genial in the flashbacks and so pernicious in the "present" as a Ghost/Clown from who knows where. The line from the ice cream truck is used throughout to the point of ad nauseum. What about all that temperature freezing stuff? Did anyone else notice it? And how were two bodies buried when there were no bodies left. No investigation either? maybe I am over-analyzing here. But this episode had room to delve into these things by getting rid of all the repetitive stuff. Admittedly, this is a fun episode, but is it great or even good - NO WAY! Director Tom Holland, I guess, deserves his title if for nothing else than Fright Night, but he shows himself to be more of a novice than a master here.
Review of We All Scream for Ice Cream
